The Tennessee boys are tearing it up so far this week! They have been hot on the trail of smallies, only stopping for the occasional trout caught by accident. From what we can tell, the fish are not safe on the main lake nor the portage lakes. Many of the portages are being explored this week and some are paying big dividends with not just good numbers, but also some really nice fish. Here are some samples of the fish caught so far this week. I will post more are the end of their trip.

I just had a call from a good friend of mine (gatewaynorthoutfitters), as of 1:30pm there is a big washout on the 502 just a few miles north of the hwy 502/11 turn as you head north to Dryden. I called the OPP and they said it is completely closed and to listen to the local radio station - updates will be broadcast as they come up. The lady I talked to said she thought is might be closed for a while (day or two). If you are planning this route, please listen to 93.1 fm as you get closer to Fort Frances/I. Falls for updates. I will post when I hear its reopened, if someone doesn't do it sooner.

For Sale: 1992 2250 Lund Genmar Sport Cabin. The boat is in great condition for a 20 year old model. It has a 350 chev. engine, hard top, side curtains, sink, fridge, down rigger plate board, lowrance graph. 1991 Shorelander tandem axle roller trailer. Low miles, trailer was only used to bring the boat from storage in the spring to LOW and return in the fall. Price is $8900 OBO Listing for my brother, call 218-283-0990 or email [email protected] with questions

I am looking for a short tiller handle for a honda outboard. The years can range from 1996 - 2003. I need it for a 25hp., but I believe a 30, 40, or 50hp will also fit. Email me with pictures and price if you have one. [email protected]hotmail.com Thanks, Matt

It looks like it's going to be a hot start with the winter trout fishing season starting on Jan. 1! The temps have been below 0 since 4pm yesterday and they will not be above 0 until sometime on Thursday according to the forecast and we won't be above 10 for a full 10 days. We are making really good ice right now. When trout season starts on our lakes, we will have the best ice we have had in the past 10 years. Can't wait to get started - are you?

Is anyone getting the winter trout fishing itch yet? Opener will be here in just a few short weeks. Here are a few old pictures to wet your appetite and get you thinking about the Hardwater season ahead of us. We are making very good ice every night, last night it was -15, tonight (11:30pm) it is already -10, and for the next 10 days the predicted high is only 22 and the lows are in the single digits. As of right now we are anticipating our best ice in years. Right now we have approx. 5-7" of ice near our resort with no snow cover. Last year we had open water in front of us until Dec. 24, so we are approx. a month ahead of schedule. If you are looking for a great trout fishing destination, just let us know. Bookings for January are starting to fill, but we have plenty of Feb./Mar. dates open.

We wrapped up our deer season and broke camp 12 days ago. It was a pretty successful season, here are a few pictures of the nice deer taken during the hunt. As you can see in the bottom pictures, we had to break ice to get out. This is the earliest I have ever seem ice on our lake. Last year we had open water in the same area until the middle of December. With the cold temps we are experiencing right now with lows of -5,1,0,4 and highs only in the mid teens we should have a great trout fishing season ahead of us. If anyone is looking for a great trout fishing location, contact us through the links below. We are taking reservations right now.

We have 3 lots on the north end of Pipestone Lake for sale. The west lot is .7 acres with a nice 24x24, 2 bedroom, 1 bath cabin. The center lot is 3.8 acres with 7 cabins, they range in size from 2 bedroom to five bedroom all with multiple bathrooms. On this piece there are several outbuildings, tool room, fish house, boat dolly, large fuel storage, etc. The east lot is 2 acres with a brand new 28x32 3 bedroom, 1 bath cabin. Pipestone Lake has great fishing for Walleye, Smallmouth, Largemouth, Muskies, Lake Trout and Northern Pike. Along with Pipestone, there are approx. 15 lakes in the area that are accessible through a short portage. If anyone has questions, you can email me at [email protected] and put pipestone cabins in the subject line.

The trout fishing has been great this week. The trout have been very active and the key Lure has been the River2sea Diver vibe 65 and 80 in perch and natural colors. The most popular depth of water has been 100' with the fish being caught from 60' down to 100'. Esox lake has been good, but the best areas have been within site of our camp, so we haven't been going very far. An average day fishing trout all day is 30 trout with good days ranging in the 60+ area. The average size approx. 6lbs. With the way the past 3 falls have been, we can expect the trout fishing to get even better as we further into the fall. If anyone has any questions regarding jigging for Lake Trout, just let me know. Here are a couple pictures from Mike Ramsey and his dad Bud.

We made 30lbs of sticks after we got back from a sask. hunt 2 years ago. They were fantastic, we had the processor mix some cheese in the meat and it will definitely be something we do again the next time we have sticks made.

8/29/12 Yesterday was a pretty good Day. My Dad and little brother came up to camp for a day of fishing. It was my Dad's 60th Birthday and the fish cooperated. We caught pike just about everywhere we stopped, mainly we were looking for cabbage in 12'-15' FOW adjacent to a deep drop off. Lures that produced well were Mepps #5 in silver and 3/4oz. Chrome/Blue Rattle traps. The bass were all over and ranged from 13" up to 19". They were also caught on Mepps #5 in silver, but the really hot lure was a little 2" crawfish made by Rebel. The bigger bass were all caught in current areas in Esox. The bottom picture is a Giant Muskie clamped onto a small northern pike. The Muskie hit the northern about a split second after the pike hit the lure. The fight lasted about 2 minutes and then just before getting netted the Muskie just let go of the northern. The northern was tore to shreds and measured 19". With an accurate measurement on the northern, I would guess the Muskie was in the High 50's give or take a couple inches. It was exciting while it lasted.

Here are a couple of Bear Pictures from some successful Hunters along with a nice trout that was caught right behind the camp. The bears are crushing the baits, Trail Mix and Mcdonalds grease seems to be the hot ticket this year. The trout fishing has been on fire the past 10 days or so and it should continue right through September, just like it did last fall. Can't wait it will be fun.